Being oily raggish does not have any age restrictions. Young or just young at heart but not years, matters not a jot when it comes to being part of the oily rag lot.
The garden is a wonderful place for kids to be kids, and parents or grandparents to be parents. What better place to have an inter-generational conversation about photosynthesis or wondering about the marvels of sprouting beans than while in a kids’ garden.
And there are also nutritional benefits as Suzanne from Rotorua writes, “When my grandchild was a preschooler and I looked after her during the day, we spent many long hours in the organic vege garden One thing Emma wanted to do was to grow something herself, by herself. We chose the silver beet that we purchased, then Emma planted, then watered them and cared for them. Now I am thrilled to say that she will go down to the garden, pick the leaves, wash them and above all loves to eat her silver beet!”
A reader from Whangarei has also become enthused about a kids garden after seeing a promotion by Mitre 10. As part of their Easy As Kids promotion they have “Big pumpkin seeds” available at 50 cents a packet. There are two seeds to a packet, plus a very bright planting tag. The packet has a few very simple tips.
- Plant early spring [now!]: Under glass so they don’t get too cold [but probably not necessary if you live in the winterless North] and space 2 to 4 metres apart so they have plenty of room to grow.
- Give them plenty to drink: Especially during germination. Keep seedbed evenly moist, but don’t drown them.
- Keep them warm: Pumpkins need plenty of sun and protection from the wind.
- Pick the biggest pumpkin on each vine and get rid of the others so the one that’s left grows like mad.
- Pumpkins love sun but not too much sun. In mid-summer heat they like a little light shade.
- In Autumn, cut the pumpkin off. Leave 10 or 20cm of vine attached and lift pumpkin into a sunny, sheltered spot to ripen.
- These big pumpkins are NOT for eating – unless you’re a pig.
On Saturday the 5th of April next year, Mitre 10 will have a pumpkin weigh-in, with judging at 1pm. There will be prizes for biggest, ugliest and best-dressed pumpkins! You can find out more atwww.mitre10.co.nz, and a whole lot of others things as well, like how to make a raised garden.
Talking about raised gardens, once you have the kids excited about big pumpkins, start a kids garden (raised gardens are easier to dig with a plastic bucket and spade!).
The first thing about starting a children’s garden is that it should be proportional to the size of the child – small – and it should be full of interesting plants that are easy to grow that the kids want to eat (like lollies and ice cream!).
Pretty much the same rules apply to a kids’ garden as for a big-persons plot. Good fertile soil, in a warm sunny spot, and access to water.
The trick is to get kids involved from the very start (which is where the BIG pumpkin seeds come in!). That includes talking about what sort of garden you should have, how big it should be, selecting the timber for the frame, putting down the weed barrier, dumping the soil, making compost, selecting what to grow and where, when to plant, when to pick, and best of all how to prepare it for a yummy meal.
The garden only needs to be about a metre or so square, maybe a little more, so make the frame about a metre by a metre, or say make it long and narrow (a couple of metres by half a metre, but depending on what spare – free – timber you can locate) so little hands attached to short arms do not have a problem reaching in. You could also use edging like stones, logs, bricks, tyres, and the like if you do not have any timber handy.
Use compost that is light and easy to work. Mix in some fertiliser like sheep pellets (no putting in your mouth please!)
A kids’ garden should be a fun garden as well as a productive one so we like the idea of planting things in addition to vegetables. Big, bright, happy, sunflowers are fantastic.